Just Pretend?
by JulieM
Summary: More than ‘just pretend,’ Harm and Mac’s life suddenly take an unexpected turn. Anything more would spoil the surprise! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Just Pretend?

Summary: More than 'Just Pretend,' Harm and Mac's life suddenly take an unexpected turn. Anything more would spoil the surprise.

AN: Just for the sake of the plot, I'm changing a few details of the episode 'Four Percent Solution.' Let's just pretend that Mac was driving her Corvette that night, so decided to replace the totaled car with something more economical once she got out of the hospital.

In this universe, Mattie has also returned and stayed with her Father. No accident takes place and Harm has continued on in life without her.

Spoilers: Four Percent Solution, Yeah Baby.

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. But what do I do with all of the crazy images in my head? LOL! Surely TPTB and the Top Gorilla can't blame me, huh?

AAN: Okay, part one is long. I'm really not into torture. Part two will be out tomorrow, come rain or come shine! Enjoy!

OOOO

"Are you free for lunch today, Mac?"

Sarah MacKenzie wasn't expecting the voice that spoke up behind her in the break room.

"Uh, sorry, Harm…I've got a meeting with a witness in twelve minutes and I still need to do some photocopying before he gets here."

"Too bad," Harm commented, before asking, "Is that a witness in the Simmons investigation?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "but could we do lunch at some other point, this week?"

"Sure we can," Harm nodded, smiling at Mac as they made their way out of the break room and back towards their respective offices. "Just let me know when is best for you. My workload this week is pretty light."

Mac didn't exactly have many cases on her desk either, but this one was growing every time she worked on it. Lieutenant Paul Littman, assigned to the USS John C. Stennis, had requested emergency leave when his daughter was involved in a household accident and had to be hospitalized, but his CO, Captain Jake Simmons had failed to grant him leave. There was some debate about why this had happened, but the matter had been referred to the JAG Headquarters when Lt. Littman had requested and been denied even a basic apology. Littman felt that it was a matter of principle, because if anything had happened to his daughter in his forced absence (luckily the child had made a full recovery) then he would have had to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life. Littman was now looking for monetary compensation; but Mac was afraid that this was going to turn round and bite him on the six. Sure, there was no way he should have been detained on the Stennis after he had requested emergency leave due to extenuating family circumstances, but Mac wasn't sure just how much or even if he'd be granted any compensation. In the back of her mind, she debated if Lt. Littman was just out to cause friction and get some money while he was at it. But as soon as the Lt. stepped into the bullpen, she knew that every assumption she'd had about him was incorrect.

The man who emerged through the glass doors into headquarters while Mac was requesting some research from Bud, was a tall, cool drink of water, with bright green eyes and dark blond hair. As he looked around and surveyed the people in the bullpen, Mac was able to study him for a minute. He wasn't quite as broad-shouldered as Harm, but was pretty much the same height. As he caught sight of her uniform and insignia and made his way towards her and Mac prepared herself, in case she would be dealing with another case of 'squid super-ego.' He surprised her by coming across as very polite and softly-spoken. But what surprised her most was the little figure that appeared as by magic from behind his long, uniform-clad legs. The little girl had a mop of curls in the same dark-blond shade as his and was dressed in purple overalls.

"I'm looking for Colonel MacKenzie, please?" he asked, "That is you, isn't it Ma'am? There aren't any other Marine Lieutenant Colonels in this office?"

"Yes, that's me," Mac smiled, politely, "and I appreciate you making time for me today, Lieutenant…Is this your daughter? She's adorable."

"I'm sorry that I had to bring her with me, Ma'am," the Lieutenant quickly dropped the little hand that he unconsciously held in his massive one, but settled for stroking the curly hair on his daughter's head to reassure her in these foreign surroundings, "I hope that's not going to be too much of a problem…You see, her usual sitter cancelled at the last minute and just as I was trying to make my way out the door, she fastened herself around my leg…She's never spent much time alone with the neighbor who volunteered to watch her and there was no way she was letting me leave without her…"

"No, it's not a problem," Mac shook her head, understandingly, " I just need you to recount your version of the events for my records. It shouldn't take too long and then, once I review the notes that opposing counsel will provide me with, we can decide whether we're going to take this all the way to trial."

Over the next hour, the three of them holed up inside Mac's office, Mac at her desk, Lt. Littman in the visitor's chair facing her and his little girl happily playing with a couple of toys on the carpet at his feet. Mac had not at first noticed the backpack filled with supplies that had been slung over one of his shoulders. It was hardly regulation attire, but she supposed that there was no way one could leave home with a small child and not be prepared for any eventuality.

The facts of the case soon became a bit clearer;

The Lieutenant had been contacted by his live-in nanny (he was raising his child alone,) to tell him that the child had fallen down a flight stairs and had been hospitalized. Although her injuries were not life threatening or permanent, it was still necessary for the Lieutenant to return home, so that insurance forms and the release documents could be dealt with. Lt. Littman had emphasized several times how important his presence back home was, yet his CO had repeatedly asked him for some more time, so he could arrange some cover for Littman's duties aboard ship. In fact, not once had his CO contacted anyone to arrange for somebody to step into Lt. Littman's shoes. In fact, Lt. Littman had to repeatedly find his CO aboard ship over the next few days, while he was frantic with worry, pondering why things were taking so long. In the end, the hospital had kindly sent the necessary documents by courier to the USS Stennis, which Littman dutifully signed and sent back via the same courier. But for three days since the emergency call had gone through to the ship, Littman still pursued his emergency leave request, which seemed to throw his CO a little.

"What baffled me the most, Colonel," Littman described, "was that after I first told him I needed leave, he seemed to avoid me. Once I had signed the hospital documents and sent them back, I was still so anxious to get back home and check that Erin was really okay. I went back to Captain Simmons, to make it clear that I still needed emergency leave, but he asked me, out-right, whether that was still necessary. I said, 'But Sir, my toddler is still injured. She's still at home in the care of the nanny and I need to make sure she's really okay. The hospital discharged her yesterday, but there's no way the nanny will be able to care for her and take care of the house-hold duties as well.' He still seemed unconvinced. I then asked him why it had taken so long to get my emergency leave sorted, since I had asked more than three days ago. He said that things were backed up and that he hadn't been able to get the message through. But I know the people involved, Ma'am. They all told me that the Captain hadn't attempted to get the message through. It seems as if he deliberately ignored my request. Things turned out okay and Erin didn't suffer any lasting effects, but she could have been more seriously injured and all of my requests were ignored. In fact, it was two weeks before the Stennis pulled into Norfolk and I was finally granted shore leave. That shouldn't have happened, Ma'am."

"No, it shouldn't have," Mac nodded, "but I must ask, Lt., why you are requesting compensation. I know it must have been a terrible time for you, but if we have to go to court, it won't look favorable in the records that you're looking for monetary compensation."

"I've already requested an apology, Ma'am," The Lt. argued, "but that request was ignored, too. I wanted some answers, but the CO was always conveniently too busy to see me. He even put me on duty at the other end of the ship during the first hour that we were docked in Norfolk. I didn't get the chance to confront him before he left the ship. How else am I meant to convey the way I feel about this whole situation? Hopefully it will make them sit up and start paying attention."

This all smelled a little too fishy for Mac's liking. She knew that there had to be more to this than was apparent. But if the Lt. knew, he wasn't telling her. He couldn't seem to pinpoint any reason why his CO would forcefully keep him on the ship; he was involved in no vital assignments that relied on his expertise, his job was one many officers in the Navy could do, his tasks were ones that many could take care of. He could pinpoint no grievance the Captain had towards him, one that may have inspired any sort of stubborn malice or spite. The Lieutenant had been the one to show his CO around his hometown where they were docked, when Simmons was first assigned to the Stennis a year back.

"And your daughter, Lt.? Has she been okay, since she was discharged from hospital?" Mac asked.

"Aye Ma'am," the Lt. lifted his child up onto his knee to show her the healing bumps, bruises and cuts. One cut was quite large but was hidden beneath the curls above her left eyebrow.

"She got the last of her stitches out yesterday. The scars shouldn't last long. The doctor said they would fade with time. And she said it's lucky she's so young, or her bones wouldn't have just bent, they'd have broken. She'd have been looking at a broken arm, leg and several ribs. As it is, they're just bruised."

Mac smiled at the adorable two-year-old playing with the Naval Academy ring on her Father's hand.

"It's been a lot better since I got shore leave," the Lt. continued, "I've been able to spend most of my time with her and it doesn't look like this accident is going to leave anything more than a few faint physical scars. She doesn't seem to remember too much about what happened, she's just glad to have me home."

"It must be hard," Mac sympathized, knowing very few other men willing to put their all into protecting those dear to him, being a parent on their own, "when you're bringing up a child on your own, and are on active duty in the Navy."

"Women seem to manage it all the time," the Lt. admitted, honestly, "but sometimes I wonder how they manage to make it seem so easy…I know it's isn't really, but it just doesn't seem as hard for them as it does for Erin and I…"

He quickly changed the subject to other matters, such as what would be happening next.

"I'll need to get the Captain's testimony from his attorney, then if we manage to come to some sort of consensus, we'll take it from there," Mac told him, "If not, then we're going to court. I can't promise you anything, Lieutenant, but you'll get your answers, I'll make sure of that. But I'm not sure how much compensation you'll get, or even if you'll get any."

"I don't even care about the money, Ma'am," the Lt. admitted, "That's my way of making it up to my daughter. That will be her money and I'll invest it for her future."

Mac was satisfied with the information she had collected from the Lt., so she let him and his daughter be on their way while she set about arranging for an interview with Captain Simmons. She didn't get any further than his attorney, who told her he'd fax his client's statement but an interview was really out of the question; the Captain was much too busy.

"My client is considering filing charges against the Captain, which may or may not include a request for substantial monetary compensation for everything he and his child went through," Mac decided that she would light a fire underneath them, "I suggest that you let your client know that and we'll see if he is 'too busy' for an interview!"

Mac couldn't have known the consequences that her actions would have.

OOOO

It was the middle of the night when the call came and Mac was still so sleepy that she had to get the caller to repeat himself. The siren in the background on the caller's end didn't help matters either.

"I'm the county sheriff with the Virginia highway police, Ma'am. We've got a lieutenant and a little girl here who've been involved in a vehicular incident and we couldn't find any Commanding Officer's details on the gentleman. But we found your card and assumed that you were his attorney, Ma'am."

"No…I mean yes, I am his attorney," Mac told the man, " but the Lt.'s transfer orders are currently being processed so he has no CO at this present time…Are they both okay?"

"The Lt. has extensive injuries, Ma'am," the sheriff reported, "but his little girl seems to have suffered no sort of injury…If you could come down and take custody of her, Ma'am, we'd really appreciate it…"

Mac scrambled to find a pen and paper on her bedside table and scribbled down the directions the sheriff gave her.

When she finally got there, she found that it was that same exact stretch of road that she had traveled last Christmas Eve, the night of her car accident, although a different tree was involved, the one she hit being long gone.

She took in the scene of devastation, finding it hard to believe that anyone could have walked away from this crash alive. The bonnet of the car was completely crushed, the engine filled most of the driver's and passenger's space and the windshield was completely gone. There was even damage to the back of the jeep, though not to such an extent as to the front end. Mac also found it hard to believe that this much damage, especially to the surrounding brush, could have been done by just one car. The sheriff filled her in on what had happened, to the best of his knowledge and she surmised that she had been right.

"It seems like the lieutenant's car left the road, under force from another behind it and impacted with the tree. The lieutenant was partially thrown through the windshield when his seatbelt severed, but his daughter was fastened in her car seat, in the back and that held her in secure. The lieutenant was still alive when he left here with the paramedics, but his condition was very fragile. Judging by the foreign paint along the back bumper of his jeep, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet they were pushed from behind, off the road. There was only the jeep here when we arrived, but the damage to the brush suggests that our aggressors also left the road, so there was probably a lot of damage to the other vehicle, too…"

Just then, the police radio in the sheriff's car burst to life and he excused himself to go answer it. Mac took a few minutes to investigate the vehicle, but making sure not to get too close and disturb any evidence, mindful that it was essentially a crime scene. The sheriff returned shortly.

"That was one of our units, Ma'am," he explained, "They've detained a couple of naval officers in a damaged truck, just a couple of hours up this road. Seems their engine and tires gave out soon after this altercation. Both men are being taken into custody and their vehicle will be towed to the police impound. I've not been given any names, yet, but I'll contact you to let you know when the preliminary interview will take place."

Mac thanked the man, pondering how this case seemed to be getting worse and worse.

She was led to a police cruiser, where the Lieutenant's child was being cared for by another police officer…or at least watched. When the sheriff opened the door to the back of the cruiser, Mac discovered that the little girl was fast asleep, as if all of the commotion around them all didn't really concern her.

"You can take the child, Ma'am," she was told, "The paramedics checked her out and decided that she had no injuries from the crash at all. She seems to have some cuts and bruises, but they appear to be old…"

"That's right," Mac nodded, contemplating what to do next, "They're from a previous incident, a few weeks ago. Her pediatrician had just given her a clean bill of health."

"I'd get her checked out with her doctor tomorrow, just in case, Ma'am," the female officer advised her, "But other than that, she's good to go. I suggest you take her car seat with you to keep her safe, but it's been involved in an accident and will need to be replaced at the first possible opportunity.

Mac still had no idea what she was going to do next. She was glad for the officer's suggestions, she'd never have thought of any of that, having little hands-on experience with children. Occasional sitting sessions with her Godchildren just didn't cut it. What was she going to do with a toddler, especially when she didn't know if the child's father would be okay?

She decided to place a call to her CO. Cresswell picked up on the sixth ring, sounding pretty drowsy.

"It's Colonel MacKenzie, Sir…I'm so sorry to bother you at this time of the morning, but I had a call from a Virginia state highway police patrolman…"

She explained, as briefly as she could, the current situation, trying not to leave out any important details.

"I see," Cresswell finally spoke up, his voice low and serious.

He mulled it over for a minute then advised her to return to her home with the child, while he proceeded to the hospital to check on the condition of Lieutenant Littman.

Mac slipped her cellphone back into her pocket and decided to bite the bullet. She gently roused the sleeping child.

"Hey there, sleepy-head," she smiled at the child, to reassure her in the face of all of the no-doubt scary sights and sounds around them, "Do you remember me? Your Daddy asked me to come and get you."

"Dad-di?" the child murmured, sleepily.

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "he asked that I take care of you for a while, so I'm going to take you home with me tonight? How about that? Would that be okay?"

The child paused and then lifted her arms in aquiesence, but Mac knew she was probably taking little of this whole situation in. She unclipped the child from the restraints of the car seat and lifted her into her arms, while an officer assisted her by getting the car seat and installing it in the back of her car. Before she pulled away, Mac thought for a moment how uncomfortable it felt for the little girl to be so far away, instead of up front where she could see her clearly, but Mac knew the backseat was the safest place for her. Tonight's events had illustrated just that point.

The journey home passed without further problem and Mac quickly got little Erin inside and out of the cool night air.

She settled the child down to sleep in the middle of her bed, propping cushions around her to prevent her from rolling off. Mac didn't feel confident enough in her abilities to leave her, though, so she grabbed a spare duvet and pillow, the cordless phone and settled herself on the floor by the bed.

The General called a couple of hours later, just after Mac had drifted off the sleep. He was about to leave the hospital and informed her that they were now dealing with a case of murder.

"God, how am I going to tell his daughter?" she sighed, momentarily forgetting just who was on the other end of the line, "She's only two years old, Sir…"

"Let's just take one day at a time, Colonel," Cresswell advised her, "I'm going to see if I can track down the little girl's mother or some other family member. Why don't you see if you can find her out who her pediatrician is and take her for a precautionary check-up? Perhaps the nanny the lieutenant employed will know…I'll get Commander Rabb and Commander Turner to go downtown tomorrow and find out what they can about the suspects that were arrested."

"Aye-aye, Sir," Mac agreed and looked over to where little Erin was sleeping without concern.

After she hung up, she grabbed a quick shower with the bathroom door open and got a big mug of coffee, as it was obvious that she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. At a decent hour, she dropped Erin off at Harriet's for a couple of hours, so that she could go and question Lieutenant Littman's neighbors and find the nanny he had employed. She had thought about taking the girl with her, but wasn't sure it would be safe bringing her back to their old neighborhood. For all they knew, anybody could be involved in the plan to run Littman and his daughter off the road and some individuals might still be on the loose. Once she had questioned the neighbors, got all the information she needed from the Littman nanny, Gloria Fuentes and taken Erin to a check-up with her pediatrician, she received a phone call from the General.

"Could you stop by the office, Colonel?" he requested, "we've been able to find out a few things that you need to be informed of…"

She fastened Erin into the car seat Harriet had loaned her, in her SUV (acquired after she totaled her Corvette in that crash on Christmas Eve, last year,) and headed straight over to JAG Headquarters, deciding that she couldn't really bother Harriet with minding Erin again that day.

The General, Harm, Sturgis and Bud were waiting for her in the General's office when they arrived and if Cresswell was surprised at the little girl's presence, he hid it well.

"I managed to sort something out with the nanny Lieutenant Littman hired, Sir, but she's going to be busy until the day after tomorrow…"

Cresswell just nodded non-plussed and then surprised everyone by rising from his chair and lifting Erin into his arms. Erin didn't seem bothered in the least and what the adults didn't know was that she was used to being passed around a whole ship-full of enlisted personnel and officers, from an early age, every time there was a family day aboard the carrier her Father was deployed to.

Cresswell took a seat and got Erin distracted with all of the shiny, alluring objects on his desk before he began to fill Mac in on what had gone on that morning.

"It seems that two young sailors were taken into custody, last night; two petty officers who were previously deployed to the USS Stennis, along with the unfortunate lieutenant. They have yet to crack, but physical evidence seems solid, placing them at the crime scene when the Lieutenant was run off the road…What is more interesting is that these two POs also report directly to one Captain Jake Simmons."

"You think he may have recruited the two of them to do this?" Mac asked, her face clearly showing her surprise.

"It seems possible," Harm spoke up, revealing, "Like the General said, they aren't saying anything, but I can tell they're hiding something. A couple more rounds of interrogation and I'm sure that they'll spill their guts."

"The Commander and Lieutenant Roberts will oversee the case against the two POs," Cresswell now continued, "And I will be sending you and Commander Turner to question Captain Simmons. Do you think that you'll have any problem in staying objective, seeing as you were Lt. Littman's attorney, up until yesterday?"

"No, Sir," she shook her head, but couldn't stop her gaze dipping to look at Erin, where she was still playing with the nik-naks on the top of Cresswell's desk. She just as quickly snapped her gaze away and if Cresswell had seen it, again, he wasn't saying anything.

"Good," he nodded, "I'll keep you informed on how my search for family members is going, further on down the line. Dismissed."

Mac executed a salute, but was hesitant to leave, not sure how to point out that the child in her charge was still seated upon her CO's knee.

"Oh, yeah, of course…this belongs to you, Colonel…" Cresswell chuckled, gently as he pried a paperweight out of Erin's hand, then passed her over the desk to Mac, adding, "And make sure you see Coates on your way out. Naval Family Services has forwarded a cheque for you, to cover any expenses you incur, while you're looking after this little lady here."

"Thank you, Sir, I'm sure I'll need that this evening, when I go shopping for supplies. Lieutenant Simms-Roberts has said she'll assist me," Mac said, and Creswell nodded in approval.

Without anything else left to say, Mac executed the perfunctory crisp turn pretty well considering the two-year-old perched on her hip.

By the time she got back to her office, Mac found Harm already there, waiting for them.

"Did you get everything you need from the Lt.'s nanny?" he asked, as Mac lifted a quilted blanket out of the supply bag and seated Erin on it, on the carpeted floor.

"Pretty much," Mac nodded, "and she's also agreed to help me with supplies, as has Harriet. At least I'm not going to have to worry about how expensive it will get."

She waved the cheque she collected from Coates, then safely stored it in her purse.

"What about family?" Harm asked, "Surely this woman knew if the Lt. had any family?"

"She said the Lt. never talked about his family," Mac shook her head, "not even about Erin's Mother. He told me that she left both him and the baby by choice, but I have no idea where she might be living or how long they've been separated. Littman gave me the impression that she had no contact with them at all, but I couldn't say that for sure. The General said that he would take care of contacting any living family and all of the preparations for the funeral…"

That was another matter that Mac had thought about, since she had learned of the Lt.s passing away. Was it appropriate for two-year-olds to attend funerals? She'd always thought that it was just not an occasion for young children, but then again, this was Erin's Father they were burying. The poor child didn't even know her Father was gone forever and Mac had no idea how she would tell her. The opportunity suddenly presented itself when Erin twisted around to look for Mac and caught sight of Harm's long, dark-clad legs. She crawled a foot or two, then got to her feet and toddled the remaining distance to collapse against Harm's legs.

"Dad-di," she exclaimed, her expression playful, as if to say, 'I've got you!'

"Oh, no…no, honey," Mac struggled for the words as she lifted Erin up into her arms, "That's not Daddy. Daddy's…gone."

The little girl seemed puzzled that it was not her Father standing beside them, but curiously leaned outwards to peer around Harm, thinking that maybe Daddy was behind him.

"Sorry, honey," Harm apologized, gently, "It's just me; Uncle Harm…"

Erin blinked a couple of times and just as Harm and Mac thought her face was going to fall and that she'd surely dissolve into tears, she lifted her arms out towards Harm.

"Yeah!" Harm immediately received her, "That's right, come and see Uncle Harm! Did you have a good time playing with all of the stuff on the General's desk, huh? You're a lucky girl; he never lets us play with any of that cool stuff! And somebody told me that you went round to play at Auntie Harriet's today…"

At Mac's quizzical look, he explained, "She stopped by with AJ, Jimmy and the twins, a few hours ago."

They didn't stay around for too much longer, just long enough for Mac to change Erin's diaper, then Mac explained that she needed to get Erin back home where the child had a pre-packed children's meal sitting on a shelf in the refrigerator with her name on it.

"Okay," Harm looked mildly disappointed and conceded, "Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call…I should be at home all tonight and I'd be happy to help."

Mac nodded and bid their goodbyes. She felt for Harm, especially since his contact with Mattie had dropped to nothing, despite his valiant efforts. Maybe she would call him after she was done shopping with Harriet.

That evening passed quickly, in a flurry of shopping to get anything needed for Erin, any items not given by the Littman nanny. Of course, Mac also had to stock up on perishables like food and drinks for Erin too and by the time they got settled at home, Mac's back, arms and shoulders ached. She was most surprised, albeit pleasantly by Harm, who dropped by at 1900 hours.

"Sorry to come without calling," he lifted a carrier bag of take-away, "but I thought you'd probably be so wrapped up in getting Erin sorted and fed that you'd probably forget about yourself."

Mac didn't need to answer for Harm to surmise that this was true. She had fed Erin more than an hour before, but she had yet to even think about preparing something for herself. She'd simply been too busy setting up the equipment and unpacking all of the supplies she and Harriet had purchased or which had been passed on from Gloria.

"And I also figured that you'd probably stock up on loads of commercially prepared garbage, too," Harm added, lifting the bag in the other hand, "So I thought I'd try my hand at preparing something homemade and nutritious for her."

Mac couldn't say for sure that her mouth hadn't dropped wide open at this point, but she knew that her stunned silence had lasted a good few seconds.

"You spent your evening mushing up your rabbit food into pulp?" she finally came up with.

"Uh, yeah! Well, some of it is mashed, some vegetables are just chopped…That's what loads of parent are doing, these days," Harm adopted a blasé attitude about it that he didn't quite manage to carry off, "You can never really trust what is going inside your child unless you prepare it yourself. Tell me you weren't actually going to feed her that commercial junk."

"I'm not exactly an expert on this 'commercial junk,' Harm," Mac shot back, "But I'm sure it'll be nutritious and balanced."

"Yeah, and full of additives that allows them to stock it on the shelves for years," Harm interjected, "C'mon, Mac. I prepared this myself…"

"You're also responsible for 'Harm's toxic meatless meatloaf'," Mac teased him, "so I'm not sure if I should trust you…"

Harm just shot her a filthy look and continued, "Made from fresh, organic ingredients, with no kinds of additives at all, not even salt. Just 100 fresh produce. Fresh veg, organic wild-cod fish-sticks breaded with crumbs made from a family recipe of mine…"

Mac looked at the contents of the Tupperware containers inside the bag and surmised that it really didn't look as bad as the stuff she'd nuked in the microwave, earlier that evening.

"Okay," Mac gave in, warning Harm, "but if she eats this stuff and it causes an eruption in her diaper, or comes up the same way it went down, then you're the one changing her and cleaning her up."

Since Erin had already eaten a full meal that evening, Mac tried her with a small portion of dessert; applesauce, which Harm had prepared by hand. Erin polished it off with gusto and then tucked into seconds.

"See," Harm smiled broadly, "what did I tell you? She loves it!"

"How on earth do you know what parents with young children are giving them to eat, anyway?" Mac asked.

Harm looked sheepish for a second then admitted that it was from some article he'd found online, after Mac and Erin had left the office that afternoon.

Mac just laughed and set about getting Erin prepared for bed. Once Erin was settled for the night, Harm and Mac finally got round to eating themselves.

OOOO

Mac was hardly in the door the next day when The General requested her (and Erin's) presence in his office. Again, Erin took her usual place upon the General's knee, while he explained the situation to Mac.

"It seems that this is going to be harder to resolve than we previously thought," Cresswell announced, once he was sure that Erin was sufficiently absorbed in her games, "It seems that the lieutenant only has some very distant relative living in South Africa…"

Mac frowned, thinking about how she didn't want Erin being dragged half-way around the world, just to find a family.

"And it seems that the biological mother is without any family and uninterested in taking her…"

Mac really did see red, here, because she knew that many people (she was one of them) wanted children, yet were unlikely to have them biologically. She just about kept herself from speaking out, though.

"But with time, I'm sure that we'll get something sorted, Colonel," Cresswell continued, "Commander Roberts is heading to Norfolk this morning, to speak with Captain Simmons. I'd like you to go with him, just in case things get ugly…"

Sensing that Mac was about to point out that she had the lieutenant's child in her care, Cresswell added, "And don't worry about the child…Somebody's going to spend some time with Uncle Gordon…"

Mac was only mildly successful in keeping her face straight as her CO fussed over the little girl on his knee. But she was sure to have it unreadable again by the time he looked up.

"We'll be okay for a couple of hours, Colonel," he dismissed her, "Go find Roberts and nail that lousy excuse for a officer's six to the wall."

OOOO

A nasty surprise was waiting for them at Captain Simmon's residence.

After getting no answer to their knocks on the door, Mac peered in a window.

"Damnit!" she cursed, "There's nothing there…The whole place is cleaned out. It looks like he's gone…permanently"

Indeed, Harm and Sturgis soon convinced the two petty officers to give up, and when they did, the two sang like canaries, confirming the JAG officer's suspicions. Apparently the Lieutenant had witnessed his CO getting a bit too merry and friendly with a local waitress during shore leave last Christmas and the Captain was afraid this whole case was the lieutenant's way of extorting money out of him to keep silent. He'd asked these two young men to run him off the road and make it look like an accident. When he'd heard that they'd messed the job up and had been caught, he'd obviously decided to run.

"There are few things I hate more than a dishonorable officer," Cresswell boomed, when he was told the news, "and a senior officer who tries to evade justice is one of them!"

Erin looked slightly perturbed, where she had been quietly playing on the floor.

The General was soon pudding-soft again.

"Sorry, Pumpkin," he apologized, stroking her gorgeous curls, "don't pay any notice to Uncle Gordon. He's not really angry, and certainly not with you…"

Erin went back to her toys.

In a hushed voice, Cresswell told Mac and Bud to put out an APB on Captain Simmons.

Mac didn't even have the nerve to ask if she should take Erin back. The General was leaning back in his seat, his mind absent-mindedly stroking his hand through Erin's hair again.

She took a short coffee break, before she went back to retrieve the little girl!

OOOO

The next day, Mac was able to leave Erin with the nanny, so felt more prepared to sink her teeth into the case. However, she'd left a vital report out of the case file at home, so ended up going home in her lunch hour. Erin was glad to see her and let her pleasure be voiced.

"Momma!" she exclaimed, loudly.

All the blood drained out of Mac's face, until Gloria the nanny reassured her.

"Don't worry," she told the stunned woman, "it is a common thing for children her age. She will sometimes call me 'Momma' too, but we just need to re-enforce how we want her to refer to you."

Mac thought for a second then went to pick the child up.

"Hi Erin!" she greeted the child, "Your Aunty Mac has missed you, today. Have you had fun with Aunty Gloria?"

She looked behind her for guidance from Gloria, who nodded and gave her the thumbs up.

While Mac found her missing documents and made herself a sandwich for lunch, she sat the little girl in her high-chair and listened to Erin ramble on in toddler-speech about her day. She was better with words than Jimmy, who was similar in age to Erin. She made a mental note that she'd have to get the two of them together for a play-date.

Mac didn't at immediately realize what was going on when glass started flying everywhere, but soon dove across the room to grab Erin from her high-chair. The explosions went on and Mac shouted out when Gloria went to put her head around the door to see why Erin was shrieking.

"No, don't come in. There's somebody firing from across the street! Get down on the floor!"

With Erin tucked underneath her, Mac crawled out the door and took cover in the living room, alongside Gloria, behind the couch. The poor woman had her arms over her head and looked petrified, now she had identified the disturbance as gunshots.

When the noise finally ceased, Mac grabbed up her service weapon, the baby and instructed Gloria to follow her. She didn't emerge from marine-mode until the three of them were safely at JAG Headquarters.

OOOO

"Looks like somebody's looking to silence a witness," Clayton Webb commented, three hours later.

"She's two years old," Mac argued with the man she wished she'd never have to lay eyes on again, "What on earth could she be witness to?"

"I'm only stating the obvious," Webb went to argue, but Cresswell interrupted him.

"Enough, Webb. I've heard plenty about your dealings with this office and I will say it once more with feeling; I will not put up with you using my people. This time, we are going to collect on the very many favors you owe JAG…"

Again, Webb tried to argue, but Cresswell cut him off.

"No, listen to me and listen good. We are going to need four covers; one for Mac, one for this innocent child, here, one for the nanny and one for…"

"Who else needs to be protected?" Webb argued, enraged that he'd have to work for the JAG and not the other way around.

"And also, for Commander Rabb…" Cresswell finished.

Mac, Harm, Sturgis, Bud and Webb all stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Rabb?" Webb ground out.

"Yes, Rabb," Cresswell confirmed, ignoring his officers.

It was obvious to him that there was some kind of tension between Webb and Rabb. He'd seen the steely looks that had passed between them when Webb entered the office, earlier. And it went beyond a mission or two going south. There was only one person close enough to Rabb to catch Cresswell's attention; MacKenzie. But she had shot Webb a look of malice when she had spotted him…Was it a case of the green-eyed monster arising when a woman didn't return Webb's affections? Did Rabb sense it and react accordingly?

"I want two officers in there, watching each other's sixes, just in case your planning turns out to be as shoddy as it usually is," Cresswell announced, "Roberts is married, Turner has a significant other, so that leaves Rabb. Rabb, you and MacKenzie will make the perfect Daddy and Mommy to our precious goods, here. I want you three, along with Ms…."

"Fuentes," the kindly woman provided, adding, "but please call me 'Gloria,' Mister Cresswell."

Nobody knew why, but Gloria had really taken to the General, perhaps it was because of his gentle manner when dealing with Erin. The 'precious goods' was again seated on his knee, this time playing with the medals and ribbons on his shirt, but he didn't say anything about it.

"…along with Gloria," he amended, "out of the state, under assumed names, for the time being."

"Do you really think that is necessary…" Webb again spoke up.

"I will not have my officers shot at!" Cresswell was stern with only his facial expression this time, which Erin could not see at this present time, as opposed to his tone and volume of voice, which she could hear. Still, Webb silently picked up this unspoken rule, as well as the fact that he wasn't likely to get his own way.

"You will have those cover identities waiting on my desk by the end of the day," Cresswell warned the man, "or your director is going to have hell from me, am I understood?"

Webb wisely chose to nod, so that he'd be dismissed and would have as much time as possible to work on his task for the day.

Once he was gone, Mac spoke up.

"Are you certain you need both of us, Sir?" Mac asked, careful with her phrasing, "I mean, Commander Rabb doesn't need to be pulled away from his important cases…"

"Commander Rabb is here to do as I say, Colonel," the General's tone brokered no argument, "and I want two of my officers taking the best of care of this child…"

"Mama!" Erin suddenly exclaimed, joyfully, holding out a service ribbon to Mac, one that she'd pried free from the General's uniform shirt.

'Oh, no, Erin!" Mac quickly took it from her, going to pin in back in place, when she realized that it was her CO's chest she was contemplating.

"Uh, here you go, Sir…" she settled for handing it to him, "And yes, I'm now crystal clear on your reasoning, Sir."

Harm tried to disguise a snigger with a cough, but the General turned a stern eye on him, too.

" I understand, too, Sir," he added, mildly sheepish.

"Good!" Cresswell's tone was as sharp as a rapier, "Dismissed!"

Again, Mac wisely left Erin sitting on his knee.

OOOO


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Just another disclaimer. I don't own BBC America, I Love Lucy or the popular tv series Desperate Housewives, but couldn't help but have a little fun at their expense! It's all in fun though, in the name of entertainment! No real harm done!

OOOO

Part 2

One week later found Harm, Mac, Erin and Nanny Gloria situated in a nice house, in a gated community in suburban California.

"Mrs. Colmer," Gloria (or Freya, as she was now known) called to her lady employer, "it is just me."

"Hi!" Mac greeted the woman, helping her with the groceries she had picked up at the supermarket, "Thank you, I honestly don't know what I'd do without you to help me, Freya!"

"It's no problem," 'Freya' set her paper brown paper bags down and went to work on storing everything.

Mac went back to her office, where 'Tina' (Erin) was napping in her downstairs crib. She smoothed a hand over the little girl's back before she went back to work on her plans. Mac's cover was that of a part-time-architect/stay-at-home Mother. Christine Colmer was the 'perfect woman', juggling her career and household duties with seeming ease, still finding time to lavish attention upon her toddler daughter.

It wasn't long before her 'book-end' husband came home, announcing in a very 'I Love Lucy' way; "Honey, I'm home!"

Mac was not amused and her face showed it.

"Hello," Harm assessed her from where he leaned against the study doorway, peering over the pair of fake glasses that Webb had thought were necessary. The spook had reasoned that since Harm had received so much media coverage over his career, he'd need something to help change his appearance. Mac herself had received hair extensions so her hair was down to the middle of her back and she more resembled an a-list celebrity than a marine colonel. Mac had the feeling that Webb had been hoping Harm would somehow look like a geek, but Mac actually thought Harm more attractive, like the hot lecturer that all the young women develop a crush on during the first week in college. But maybe she just had a biased opinion…

"Hi," she cocked her head to the side, "Good day?"

"Besides feeling like a character out of 'Desperate Housewives,' yeah, I suppose so…You?"

"I despise this and you know it."

Mac was going stir-crazy. She'd already tried pouring over lots of case information about Captain Simmon's family, connections and possible whereabouts, but that had gotten boring after a few days. There was just nothing more that she could do from 'home.'

"Hey, you've got our child and daytime tv," Harm joked, "What else could you want?"

"Okay, okay," he conceded, when Mac looked like she might batter him with the desk lamp, "I know what you mean and I'm sure it's very boring compared to our usual day jobs, but I'm no more intellectually stimulated than you are."

Here, Mac tried to power down, for she knew he was right. Her 'husband,' Phillip Colmer was a desk worker at the city council. She knew that he had to be pretty bored with his job. It wasn't even like they had any real work to do; their assignments and submissions were delivered to them by the postman, each week. Their bosses (they were real) had no idea about their real identities. All they had to do was sit back and relax…But of course, relaxing was not something that Harm and Mac did well!

And to top it all off, Harm was about to confess news that would make it a whole lot worse.

He wisely waited until after dinner…

"I'm afraid I got picked to host the monthly 'wine-and-dine the boss' night…"

"What?" Mac almost shrieked.

At the upset look she got from Erin, she adjusted her tone, stroking the child's cheek, soothingly.

"Umm," she thought out her words first, "when exactly is this, Honey?"

The normally endearing term was laced with sarcasm, which Erin hadn't figured out yet.

"Day after tomorrow," Harm was almost afraid to tell her.

"No problem, Mrs. Colmer," Gloria looked up from where she was feeding Erin, giving her lady-boss a wink, "I'll help you put something together…Mister Colmer's boss won't know what hit him. It'll put Jamie Oliver to shame!"

Gloria watched far too much BBC America, in Mac's opinion. But there was little for her to do while Erin napped.

"Just charge whatever you need to the credit card," Harm laughed along, knowing that the bill would not be coming to them.

Finally, when even Erin was laughing along (but obviously not knowing why,) Mac gave into the absurdity of the situation and joined in.

Indeed, the event was a roaring success; between Mac's (Gloria's) good food and Erin's baby charm, Harm's boss went away with the warm fuzzies, that night.

OOOO

They spent their first full weekend out of doors, doing family things with their daughter. The zoo, the nearby public swimming pool and the park were all explored on Saturday, in an effort to stave off the cabin-fever. Nanny 'Freya' came along with them, although an extra set of eyes proved unnecessary, as 'Tina' was asleep by the end of the car trip out there.

"I can't believe that we finally get here and she's fast asleep," Harm chuckled, looking at Erin.

"She barely slept last night, Honey," Mac reminded him, her voice laced with just a hint of danger, "Somebody gave her sugar…"

"Oh, yeah," Harm quickly lost his smile, and decided to check out the gift shop, "Hey, look! It's the gift shop..."

Erin woke up in time to see the penguins, but fell asleep again in the car, on the way to the park. When they got to the pool, she woke up again and Harm took her swimming. Mac enjoyed watching them frolic about in the water, a fact that did not go unmissed by Gloria. The woman made up her mind to watch these two! They were more entertaining than daytime soap operas!

Sunday was spent on the front lawn with Mac watching Harm and Erin's antics in the sprinklers, on a big soapy plastic slip n' slide and with water guns. Eventually, Mac donned an old shirt and some denim cut-offs and joined them and they had a rare old time. Harm and Mac had given Gloria the day off to go and spend some 'metal-health time' on her own. This way, they only had to worry about the neighbors seeing the show they were obligated to put on.

OOOO

After three weeks, life had settled into a new routine; Mac had to work in the morning but allowed herself a couple afternoons a week to get together with the new friends she had made amongst her neighbors. Harm similarly went out a night or two a week, with friends from work. Even Gloria had made some friends in the neighborhood, so she got a break from her house keeping duties. This small amount was just enough to keep them from going completely crazy! Erin didn't notice that much had changed; she fit right in with this model of domesticity. She thrived in the attention that the three adults were providing her with. Harm, Mac and Gloria tried their best to begin to teach her from home, but eventually they knew that she would benefit more from attending pre-school. So, three days a week, Mac dropped her off at the pre-school just down the road, for a few hours. By the time that Harm and Mac were contacted by General Cresswell for the first time, Mac was surprised by how much she was enjoying this new life.

The General informed them of several leads, but told them to be prepared to duck it out a while longer (The fugitive Captain apparently must have his finger in a very many pies.)

OOOO

"Mommy!" Erin cried loudly, when she saw her carer at the door to the pre-school.

"Hi Baby!" Mac could obviously not correct her in front of all of these other people, "Did you have a good day today?"

"Pain-tink!"

Erin pulled her over to the painting that she had spent all morning on, now left on a table to dry.

"Wow," Mac showed the appropriate enthusiasm and encouragement, "that's great, Tina! You must have worked really hard, today! What a beautiful painting that is!"

Going home that day, Mac opted to lift Erin into her arms and carry her home, while pushing the empty stroller. Erin talked non-stop about her day and Mac enjoyed every minute of the commentary.

When he came home from work, Harm found Mac and Erin upstairs, having a pillow fight on the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. He just stood, relaxed against the doorjamb for a while and watched them, until they noticed he was there.

"Hey Erin," Mac smiled at the child, "Look who's home!"

"DADDY!" Erin launched herself off the end of the bed, knowing full well that Harm would catch her.

Harm had to hustle, but he managed it, even though he gave a big, theatrical groan and complained, "Oh! I'm too old for this! My poor back!"

Mac just laughed, she'd always thought that Harm was brilliant, an absolute natural with their godchildren.

"So how was your day?" she asked, genuinely getting into the whole family thing.

"Oh, it was alright," he dismissed, "Couldn't wait to come home to 'my girls' though. They don't throw mountains of paperwork at me! What have you two been up to today?"

"Well," Mac smiled, "Erin had preschool this morning. While she was having fun and painting us a wonderful picture, I got some work done on my projects. I finished two and then I got some grocery shopping done with Gloria. After that I went to collect Erin and we've spent the whole evening playing up here! Gloria volunteered for kitchen duty tonight…"

"Ooo," Harm's face brightened, "I thought I smelled fajitas!"

Mac looked at him with one eyebrow raised and he quickly added, "…although the ones you made last weekend were much better."

Mac just smiled and moved on, telling Harm about the other fifty-thousand little things she got taken care of during the course of her day.

He told her about his board-meetings (he'd gone into his job a total novice, so had been working hard on walking the walk and talking the talk!)

After they all ate a family dinner, Harm and Mac put Erin down for the night and treated themselves to sitting out on the patio furniture out back, to wind down after their busy day.

"Does this ever seem too real to you?" Harm spoke up, after they sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Too often, I find myself thinking that this will last," Mac admitted, "But we both know that it can't…"

"True," Harm nodded, his face a picture of regret, "reality just seems to be a lifetime ago. But it's something that we will have to go back to."

Mac poured the last of the non-alcoholic cocktail they had made out of the pitcher and into their glasses.

"How about we just settle with 'enjoying it while it lasts'?" she suggested, "We don't know how long we'll be here, but there's no sense in making ourselves miserable the whole time."

"No, there isn't," Harm agreed and lifted his own drink to Mac's.

"Enjoying life while we're here," they both toasted.

OOOO

Mac greeted the other women as she was invited in, putting Erin down to play with the other little children that had been brought along.

Meeting up with the other young women living in the street was the highlight of her week. Most of them were in much the same position, at least the same as her cover identity, although there were a couple that she thought she wouldn't mind not seeing again. The host of today's get-together thanked her for the Victoria sponge cake she had baked and brought over. Gloria's influence on her cooking skills was definitely positive, because every woman there proclaimed that it was the best they'd ever tasted. When asked for her secret, Mac had scrambled and come up with something she had heard Gloria say, but just hoped that it would fly.

"Uh, well…you have to use a warmed, metal spoon, when blending the sugar and margarine together. But when you add the eggs you have to switch to a wooden spoon and fold gently, or the batter will curdle."

The women seemed to be nodding and accepting it, so Mac thanked her bountiful memory bank. Her giving out cookery tips…Who'd have thought?

Erin eventually came to sit on her knee, because another woman's son was getting too boisterous with his play and was really beginning to unnerve her. Trinny and Byron Banks were a mother and son who were incredibly alike. They both asserted themselves wholeheartedly, although Trinny had learned to veil her stinging comments so that they didn't sound quite so nasty.

"My friend got these little herbal pills, Heather," Mac caught a comment she made to their host over the loud chit chat of the room, "I don't ever need anything like that myself, but she says that they take any bloating straight away. You'll be looking fabulous in no time…"

Mac didn't get the chance to see just how Heather responded to this camouflaged barb, for somebody turned to her and began to speak.

"How on earth did you managed to get so trim again after having a child, Christine?" Suzanne asked, "My Emily's nearly four and I'm nowhere near my pre-pregnancy weight. It's not for the lack of trying, believe me…"

"I suspect it has something to do with my genes," Mac told her, "My Mother was just the same after having me. Of course, I try to work out, but with Tina being two…She never sits still and even with Freya around to help, it still takes two of us to watch her…I wouldn't worry about losing weight so quickly. People who lose weight gradually and sensibly are more likely to keep it off, long-term."

This seemed to settle Suzanne's curiosity and the conversation amongst the other women quickly went off in a different direction. Mac tuned it out and focused her attention on the little girl on her knee.

"I can't decide who she looks more like," Heather came over and joined her, after having enough of Trinny's weird sense of chit-chat, "She's very like Philip, but the curly hair is a little like your. Is yours like that when it's shorter? Her eyes, of course are a little like Philip's, but his aren't the same shade of green…"

"When I was younger, my hair was a little curlier. But mostly, the curls and the eye color come from my Mother-in-law's side of the family," Mac told her, " Philip got his eye color from his Father, but Tina's are very like Philip's Mother, Trish's."

"Was Philip's hair once this fair?" another curious woman asked.

"When he was very young, around Tina's age," Mac nodded, "It darkened as he got older. Philips says he hopes the next one takes after my side!"

All of the women smiled and Erin hopped off Mac's knee and went to play with Suzanne's daughter Emily. While their Moms were letting loose and just enjoying the rare time to relax, Emily and Erin played with Heather's daughter Miriam's dollhouse. The two little girls, both very friendly and sociable, always got on well and this occasion was no exception. Unfortunately, there was one child in the group that day that was determined to cause trouble. After unsuccessfully trying to force some other children to relinquish their toys, Byron Banks saw Erin and Emily having a good time with the dollhouse. Of course, he wasn't interested in their dollhouse, but he was determined that he was going to take away their enjoyment of it. I picked up a dinosaur figurine and went over, proceeding to knock over all of their furniture and maul their dolls. The little girls gave a scream and tried to push Byron's dinosaur away.

"Raarrrr!" Byron continued to wreak havoc, "He's going to EAT you! Raarrr!"

"No Byron!" Erin told the boy sternly, "Go 'way!"

Byron paid no notice, though, so Erin snatched the dinosaur from his hand and threw it across the room.

Byron began to get red in the face, his pudgy face screwing up in anger. Gritting his teeth, he ground out, "No, YOU go away!"

Without a second thought, he gave Erin a hard shove, so hard that the little girl skidded across the floor and down the small set of steps leading to the living room.

"Byron Banks!" one of the group's of women exclaimed loudly.

Mac spun round as soon as she heard Erin begin to scream, loudly.

Rushing over, she found Anna Remner lifting Erin from her sprawled position, still half-on the stairs and half-on the floor below, while speaking to Byron sternly.

"I don't believe you, Byron Banks!" she was saying, "Tina's nearly half your age! Is that the way you treat little girls who are so much smaller than you?"

Mac took the crying child from Anna, asking, "What happened?"

While Mac tried to get Erin to stop crying, Anna told Mac what she had seen.

"Byron here came over to bother the girls while they were playing house, didn't you, Byron? He didn't like it that they wouldn't let him spoil their game, so he pushed Tina so hard that she tumbled right down the stairs…"

"I'm sure it was just an accident," Trinny was trying to smooth the incident over, "He doesn't realize his own strength, half the time…Now Byron, Honey, you know that the little girl isn't as big and strong as you are…"

"He realized exactly what he was doing, Trinny!" Anna had had quite enough of this woman, now, "I watched him torment these girls for five minutes. He didn't like it when he didn't get his way, so he shoved Tina hard, very hard! YOUR son needs discipline, it's as simple as that…"

Trinny just blanched at being told straight out that her child was a brat. Mac ignored the woman and concentrated on her little girl, who was still screaming.

"Tell Mama where it hurts, Baby…" she soothed the child gently, "Did you hit your head?"

The child shook her head, but could say nothing that Mac could understand while still crying so hard.

"Shh, shhh," Mac soothed her for a few minutes, before she tried again, "Where does it hurt, Sweetie?"

"Huu…Hu…hurts…ha…ha…heeya…" Erin sobbed, convulsively, pointing to her upper left, leg, just below her hip.

"I think she landed hard on the edge of one of the steps, Christine," Anna told her, "She's lucky that she managed to get her arms out in front of her, or she would have hit her head, too."

"Yeah," Mac sighed, acknowledging that little miracle, "the last thing she needs is another head injury…"

"She's hurt her head before?" Anna asked, "Is that where the little mark above her eye came from?"

Mac realized that she probably shouldn't have mentioned it, but managed to find a way explain it.

"Yeah, about a month ago, Philip's parents were visiting us, helping us get ready for the move and they took her out for the day. A car ran a red light at a junction and t-boned their car. Erin got caught by flying glass, but they were all very lucky…a few seconds earlier and the car would have impacted the body of the car, not just the trunk area. No-one was seriously hurt. Tina's cut above the eye was her worst injury, but my Mother and Father-in-law were absolutely beside themselves..."

"How awful," Anna sympathized, "But Tina seems to have recovered well. You can already barely see the mark above her eye."

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "it'll fade until it's barely noticeable."

Erin was still crying just as hard, so Mac decided to bring her home. She said a quick goodbye and returned home, to be greeted by Gloria.

"But what is this?" Gloria gasped as she emerged from the kitchen at all of the commotion, "What is wrong with the Ninã? What is wrong, my sweet child?"

"Another child got too rough," Mac told her, taking a seat and beginning to unbutton Erin's pants, to get a good look at her leg.

She and Gloria gasped as they uncovered the livid-looking bruise, already as sinister as if it was a full day old.

Gloria muttered a string of curses in Spanish, saying something about what she'd do to the offending child, once she got hold of them.

Mac thought it wise not to mention whose the child in question was. Gloria would ream Trinny and Byron a new one!

Mac replaced Erin's pants and held her close, rocking her to try and calm the girl. Although she was not screaming at the same volume as she had been, she was still sobbing copiously. After half-an-hour, when it had not abated any, Mac decided a visit to a doctor at the ER was needed, just to be on the safe side.

She grabbed her purse, keys and cellphone and Gloria helped her out to the car with Erin. Before she pulled out, she called Harm at work, to let him know what had happened.

"Colmer," he answered.

"Hey, it's me," Mac spoke up, not thinking that she was on speakerphone, but not knowing for sure, so she refrained from using her real name, " I'm having to go out. The baby and I are going to the E…"

"Wait," Harm spoke up, "what's wrong with the baby? Why's she crying? She never cries like that...Mac are you both okay?"

"Erin had a fall," Mac told him, "While I was at Heather's another child knocked her over and her leg is really bruised. I'm going to take her to the ER, just to make sure it's nothing more than a bruise."

"Give me thirty minutes," Harm immediately said, "I'll be there…Where are you taking her? Mercy?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded, thinking, "its the closest."

"Okay," Harm agreed, "I'll be there in about thirty…"

Before Mac could point out that the hospital was a good deal further than thirty minutes from where Harm worked, he had hung up the phone. Mac sighed; the last thing she wanted was for Harm to speed there and have an accident on the way. For the next twenty minutes, she turned her thoughts about Harm off, though and thought solely about the journey to the hospital. Erin's crying was extremely upsetting and distracting while she was trying to navigate the roads and she wondered how Harriet managed to do it with four little ones in the car. She wanted to turn around and give Erin her full attention, but knew that she couldn't, just yet.

When she got to the ER she checked in with the woman manning the reception, who told her that she shouldn't have to wait too long to get a doctor to see to her little girl.

"We're not as busy as usual, today," the woman said, "Please just take a seat in the meantime."

Usually, she'd ask anyone presenting to fill out forms, but she really felt for the woman with the little girl who was sobbing into her shoulder. She picked up all the necessary forms and went over to them, a few minutes later.

"Ma'am," she asked Mac, "I know how full your hands are just now, so if you could give me the information I need, we'll get these forms filled right out."

"Oh, thanks for the help," Mac thanked the woman, "but my husband is going to be here any minute and he has all our insurance details. I can give you the basics, though..."

They got all of the preliminary details filled out, then Mac waited for Harm to arrive, to decide how they would handle the rest. Maybe Harm would have to put a call into someone at headquarters, but she'd remind him to use his cellphone, not a public phone, which a call could be traced to.

Harm arrived twenty minutes later.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I came as fast as I could. How's she doing?"

"She hasn't stopped crying since it happened," Mac told him, "I thought we should come here and see a doctor, because the bruise she's got is absolutely huge. She hit the top of her leg, under her hip, on the edge of a step as she got knocked down."

"Oh, poor Angel," Harm stroked the child's hair, telling Mac, "You did the right thing. Better to be safe than sorry, but hopefully it's just a nasty bruise. She's been through all kinds over the past month. Maybe it's the shock that is upsetting her, rather than the injury."

Harm stayed to call the Admiral and get the forms filled out while Mac saw the doctor with Erin.

"Yes, I'd say that's a very nasty tumble she took," the man nodded, once Mac had removed the child's pants, to show him the injury, "Two year olds are so mobile at this age, it's common for them to get bumps and bruises. You were best bringing her in with one as serious as this, though. I take it she's had another little accident recently, judging by the cut above her eyebrow?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "while in the care of my husband's parents. Their doctor said it was nothing to worry about, though, that the scar will fade almost completely after a few months."

"Yes," the doctor nodded, "I'll give you some cream that will work just as well on that scar as on her bruising. It'll help them both fade. I'm sure her newest bump isn't anything more than just bad bruising from a severe knock. That area of her leg is pretty well padded, compared to other areas, like her hip. She doesn't seem to mind too much when I move her leg like this… so it's probably nothing to worry about. Just apply a little of the cream morning and night and I'm sure that the bruise will begin to go within the week. If it doesn't seem to fade, or if her leg causes Tina any excessive pain, then bring her back in and we'll reassess her, but I think she should be okay after a few days of rest and the use of a warm compress and Tylenol infant solution."

"Tina attends pre-school, doctor," Mac asked, "do you think I should keep her home, or will she be alright going back after the weekend?"

"I'd wait and see how she feels on Monday," the doctor advised her, "Sometimes these incidents can knock a child's confidence. This child who knocked her over isn't in her pre-school class, is he?"

"No, thank goodness," Mac sighed.

"I'd encourage her to go along," the doctor continued, "if she's feeling up to it."

"Thank you, doctor," Mac smiled, then brought Erin back to where Harm was in the waiting room telling him everything the doctor had advised.

"Did you manage to fill those out?" she asked, nodding to the forms.

"All…done," Harm finished the last one, "Could you just sign here and here?"

Mac gave her signature where it was needed and Harm handed the forms over. Once she sorted them out, the nurse passed on the medicated cream, giving them instructions on how often to apply it and how much to use.

Even though the whole trip had taken over an hour and a half, Erin still had not let up on the crying, although it had abated a bit.

"She's kept this up since you guys left Heather's?" Harm looked back at the child, worriedly.

"She was much louder," Mac told him, "but yeah…I don't know how the poor little thing has managed to keep going. She's got to be exhausted by now."

Harm and Mac had obviously arrived separately, so they had to split up to get both cars home. It was one thing they were thankful for; Webb had provided them with two cars, to go with the cover identities that they were a wealthy couple living in a gated community, so that meant Mac had a car at her disposal, which not all of her other friends had. It meant that her, Gloria and Erin weren't stuck at home and could go anywhere they wanted to (and more importantly, in this case, needed to.)

Once they were home, they found that Gloria had gotten take-out for dinner.

"I knew neither of you would be up to cooking," she told them, sympathetically, "So I ordered in from that place you like so much."

This was one of Gloria's nights off, but she offered to stay, anyway. Harm and Mac thanked her, but told her to go and enjoy her evening, because they knew she had been looking forward to it for days, now. She had been completely cut off from her friends and family since this had all begun. Harm and Mac insisted that she go; they would be fine with Erin.

As it was, Harm and Mac were so worried that they didn't eat much anyway and Mac didn't put Erin down. The child clung to her, so Mac settled Erin in her arms, leaning on her right, uninjured side, facing her as she rocked her gently. She'd get a spoonful of takeout every few minutes, but with the upset the day had brought, didn't feel that hungry anyway.

"Do you want me to take her?" Harm asked, after a little while, "You've hardly had anything to eat."

"I'm not really hungry," Mac dismissed, not taking her gaze off Erin, "I just want to get her comfortable..."

"How about I heat up some milk in a bottle with a drop of honey?" Harm suggested, "It always helped get AJ to sleep. Bud says it works with Jimmy, too."

Mac nodded in agreement, so Harm went to the kitchen, to prepare the milk.

"It's only slightly warm," Harm told Mac and she now trusted him to the extent that she didn't have to check the temperature herself.

At first, Erin resisted, but eventually settled and sucked eagerly on the bottle. Mac gave a sigh of relief; this had definitely been one heck of an initiation into the world of motherhood!

They were both exhausted, so decided to get an early night. After Erin had finished her bottle Mac tried to put her down in her crib. The sleepy girl began to stir and make a fuss, so Mac sat down with her for a while in the nursery, hoping she would drop off to sleep and she'd be able to get her into her crib without waking her. She only began to cry again.

"Again?" Harm put his head in a Mac nodded, ruefully.

"There's no way we can keep giving her milk," she shook her head, "so what are we going to do?"

After a while, which was silent, aside from Erin's crying, Harm snapped his fingers.

"The car!" he said, "My mother always said it put me out like a light. It worked that time we went to the zoo."

"Let's give it a try," Mac nodded.

They grabbed everything they thought they might need and set out in the car to circle around the block until they could get Erin to sleep. By the time that they knew all of the houses and lawn decorations upon sight, they were pretty sure that it wasn't going to work, so returned home.

"How does she keep this up?" Harm exclaimed, quietly.

"I have no idea," Mac was similarly amazed and no nearer to figuring out how they were going to get Erin to sleep.

After thirty minutes of pacing the living room, Harm took Erin from Mac.

"Careful," she warned him, guiding one of his arms, "Hold her like this, it won't put pressure on her sore leg."

Harm adjusted then settled into the pacing movements he and Mac had come to know as 'the sway.'

"You're getting good at that, Squid," Mac gave him a little smile, then went upstairs to retrieve Erin's empty bottle for cleaning.

By the time that she came back down, Erin was still slightly fussy, but also very drowsy. Mac walked over, shooting Harm a look that said, 'How'd you do that?'

Harm just gave a shrug, his face all like, 'I have no idea! But I like it!'

They both crept upstairs to the nursery and Harm thought he'd just about gotten Erin down in her crib, when the sleepy girl wriggled about a bit and caught sight of Mac with her empty bottle.

"Boc," she demanded, drowsily.

"It's empty, Sweetie," Mac shook the bottle to show her that there was nothing left in it.

"Boc!" Erin insisted, with a pout and a little more displeasure.

Mac sighed and handed it to her and Erin settled down with it, content even though there was nothing in it.

"How about a pacifier?" Mac looked up to Harm, "We can't let her suck on an empty bottle all night…"

"Genius!" Harm grinned and ran out the room.

He scrambled for his keys and was straight out the front door, to get to the nearest store.

By the time he got back, Erin was again fussy, even though she had the bottle in her mouth.

"Here you are, Sweetie," Mac ripped open the packet, wiped off the pacifier with a cleansing wipe and dipped it in grape flavored Tylenol solution, before giving it to her.

Erin closed her eyes, savoring the artificial flavor. When they stayed shut, Harm released an almost silent sigh. He never thought he'd be so thankful for something artificial!

They watched her for a few minutes, then crept out and shut the door over behind them. Mac first went into the bathroom (as per their usual routine) and cleaned her teeth, while Harm changed into boxers and a t-shirt. Then they switched and Harm cleaned his teeth, while Mac changed. By the time that he came back into the room, Mac was fast asleep on top of the covers.

Harm gave a soft laugh and lay down himself, thinking about how Mac must have had the day from hell. It didn't take much longer until he was fast asleep, too.

OOOO


	3. Chapter 3

Well, we've come to the end of the fic. Thanks go out to ks and the rest of the peeps at the JAG poll for helping me with ideas, reseaarch and helping me to find a title for this! Enjoy!

OOOO

Part 3

Mac was surprised to find that it was past 1000 by the time that she woke up, the next morning. She rubbed her eyes, sleepily and wandered out of the master bedroom and down the stairs, still dressed in her pajamas. She halted partway down, when she heard voices.

"Thanks so much," Harm was saying, as he stood in their front doorway, "This was very thoughtful, wasn't it Tina?"

Mac then heard Heather speak up.

"Well, Philip, after having such a terrible day yesterday, we wanted to bring over something to help make you all feel better. Alan said he heard Tina crying when he was putting out the trash, late last night. Did you take her to the ER? Was she really crying all that time?"

"From the time I got to the ER until about two this morning," Harm gave a little smile and Mac couldn't help but giggle quietly when all of the women went 'aww!' This was the lawyer who could make a military jury do a complete 180. She could tell that her friends were clinging onto every word he said. He was dressed causally, in just a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt that showed off his great upper body. He'd planned to go running that day, but Erin had woken up fussy. He now had her perched on his hip, as he gratefully received the basket of goodies that their friends and neighbors had brought over. He'd figured that since he wouldn't be getting his run just yet, he'd sit down to do some reading over the documents and books he'd brought home from work (for research into his cover profession.) He had his glasses on, since he'd wanted to get used to wearing them, so that they didn't bother him so much while he was at work. In short, he was doing 'the hot college lecturer' thing and Mac had to admit, he looked irresistible!

The women handed over the basket of goodies, told him that he and 'Christine' could call them at any time for their help or advice and bid little 'Tina' farewell.

Harm closed the door and went to set the big basket on the table.

"Oh, look, Erin!" he talked to the little girl as he went, "Chocolate chip cookies, bran muffins, gingerbread men and fairy cakes! Wasn't that thoughtful?"

Erin was extremely cranky and didn't want to entertain the notion of being nice at the moment, so she just shook her head and buried it in his shoulder, tiredly.

Harm just smiled and rocked her, indulgently.

"Hey," Mac spoke up, from where she was now coming down the remaining stairs, "I had no idea it was so late."

"We thought we'd let you sleep some more," Harm smiled, glad to see her, "Erin's been a little cranky this morning, but mostly I think she's just tired. Your friends stopped by to drop this off. They were giving me their account of the day, yesterday. Apparently things got very uncomfortable for Trinny and Byron Banks after you and Erin left!"

Mac just smiled, taking a look at all of the home-baked goodies in the basket.

"Yeah, well," she dismissed, "Byron's going to go to elementary school, soon. He'll come back down to earth with a heck of a thud when he realizes that nobody else but his Mother and Father will put up with his bad behavior. I'll just keep Erin away from him, from now on."

"Heather says she isn't going to invite Trinny over to any coffee mornings again, if she's bringing 'the brat' with her!" Harm chuckled, "I think I should have some sort of talk with the kid. He's always causing trouble with other kids, when he's playing in the street when I get home from work…"

He halted as he realized Mac was openly staring at him, as he rocked Erin on his knee.

"What?" he asked, peering out from behind the glasses that he had now forgot that he was wearing.

"Nothing," Mac snapped out of her thoughts, "Just…the glasses."

"They do make me look weird," Harm got self-conscious, "I told Webb that they weren't necessary, but he wouldn't take no for an a…"

"No," Mac quickly shook her head, reaching out to stop him as he went to take them off, "They actually really suit you. But you don't really wear them at home that much, that's all…"

"They've just been irritating me at work," Harm told her, "So I thought that I'd practice wearing them at home for short periods, to get used to them."

Mac nodded her head and asked, "How's Erin been? Did you two go out for a run?"

"No," Harm shook his head, "she didn't really seem to be in the mood, when she woke up. I was just about to go and heat her some warm milk, when the doorbell rang."

"I'll do it," Mac stood up, smiling, "you two just stay comfortable, there."

They spent most of the day together at home. Erin fell asleep in Harm's arms and they watched her for a while before putting her down for a nap. They managed an hour of peace together, talking through the details of their cover identities and the leads the Admiral had told Harm about when he called from the hospital. After that, Erin woke up very upset after having a nightmare. Harm and Mac nearly fell off the sofa, when they heard her scream from the crib in Mac's office.

They soon established it to only be a bad dream, but Mac kept Erin in her arms again until she settled down. They checked on her bruised leg and put on some of the cream the doctor had given them. Once she seemed to be asleep again, they put her in her stroller, knowing that the gentle movements of them running would probably soothe her even while she was sleeping. Mac got ready then she and Harm ran their usual route, waving to the familiar faces they encountered along the way.

After her extra nap, Erin was in much better spirits and wandered outside with Mac to watch as Harm washed their cars. After a while, she was not content to simply watch Harm, but wandered down to join him. Mac followed after her, taking off her jeans and t-shirt, so they didn't get wet. Her big bruise on her leg showed and Harm realized the sudden angry, protective emotion he felt inside whenever he noticed it, with bewildered amusement. Mac returned to the front porch to watch them and began to laugh when she saw Erin climb into the bucket of soapy water. Harm looked around to see what Mac was laughing so hard at and broke into laughter himself.

"Tina, Honey?" he asked, once he could talk again, "Please could Daddy have the sponge?"

"Yeah…" she told him.

"Would you pass it to me, please, Honey?"

Erin reached down beside her and pulled out the soapy sponge and handed it to him.

After that, Mac went to go and get a towel and when Harm lifted the child out of the big blue bucket, he laughed at how saggy her diaper was, full of water. Mac took it off and wrapped the child in the big fluffy towel and brought her inside to get rinsed and dried off, while Harm finished off his job.

Erin was unfortunately very unsettled again by that evening, so Mac watched her while Harm took care of the dinner. Gloria returned from church just before they sat down for dinner and since she had already eaten, she took care of Erin for a while. But Erin was plain monstrous that night; even the pacifier and Tylenol solution didn't help, neither did the car or the stroller, so Harm and Mac ended up taking her to bed with them. They quickly surmised that she only needed to be comforted and reassured and by holding her between the two of them, she was out like a light.

"Sleep well, Angel," Harm gave the child a kiss on the top of her head, before he and Mac turned off the lights and went to sleep themselves.

OOOO

Erin only stirred once during the night, waking up in the pitch dark and getting scared. Mac quickly moved to reassure her before Harm woke up, because she knew that Harm had a long day at work ahead of him.

"Mommy's here, Baby," she told the child, "Don't be scared…Snuggle in with Mommy."

The child immediately settled in once she was cuddled up to her main care-giver and dropped off back to sleep.

"Is she okay?" Harm asked, concerned, but still sounding a little drowsy.

"Yeah," Mac sighed, "She just woke up and didn't know where she was for a second there."

Harm moved closer and draped an arm around the two of them, before going back to sleep.

Mac was drowsy too, but couldn't help but stay awake for a few more minutes, enjoying the moment.

OOOO

They kept Erin home from preschool Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday thought that she'd be okay to return.

Harm got an upset phone call late in the morning from Mac, who'd had a very bad experience leaving Erin at the school with the teacher.

"Harm, are you free to talk? I'm not catching you at a bad time, am I?"

Harm could tell from her voice upset.

"No, nothing much is going on," he reassured her, "Do you need to talk about something, Hon?"

Mac was so upset she didn't even notice the term of endearment he used.

"I had a hard time getting Erin to stay with her teacher, this morning, is all…Harm, they never said it was going to be this hard, having a kid. I know practically nothing and I'm obviously not any good with them…"

"Hey, hey," Harm chided her softly, telling her, "You are great with Erin. You've become the only Mother she's ever known and you're doing a great job of it, but we've really been thrown in at the deep end, here. It's just going to take some time to get her used to going to preschool. It happens with any child and of course Erin has had quite a few frightening experiences, lately. She's going to be fine, though and you and I will do our best. Together, we're going to make sure she gets past this, okay?"

"Yeah," Mac sounded a bit more assured, "I know…I just needed to hear it from you. I'll let you get back to work, then…"

"You can call me at any time," Harm assured her again before putting the phone down.

Mac at first seemed okay when he got home from work. She was in the kitchen, feeding Erin her dinner while theirs still simmered on the stove and in the steam cooker.

"Where's Gloria?" Harm asked, when he didn't see the woman around.

"She's making a quick trip to the grocery store for me," Mac told him, as she tried to persuade a fussy Erin to consume mashed carrots and turnip, "I forgot the broccoli and string beans to go with our salmon, so she offered to run out."

Just then, Erin threw her hands up, sending the spoon flying and covering Mac's chest, neck and face with mashed vegetables.

"Oh, Erin," Mac sighed, grabbing a cloth and wiping her face and blouse off, while Harm chuckled.

"Don't laugh," Mac was tired and upset after her long day, but still she did kind of want to laugh too, as she wiped herself off, "It will only encourage her."

Gloria came in the front door and brought in the items she had fetched from the grocery store, washing and preparing them and setting them in the top section of the steamer.

"Ma'am," she spoke up, as she check over the food on the stove, "your potatoes are burning."

Mac spun round from where she was once again trying to feed Erin.

"Dammit!" she cursed loudly and turned off the burner underneath.

"It's alright," Gloria assured her, "it's just the ones on the bottom. If we get rid of those, I'll cut up some more so that you have enough for the two of you."

Harm could see that Mac was looking very frazzled, so came forward and rubbed Mac's shoulders to soothe her while Gloria got the potatoes sorted again.

"Hey, it's okay," he told her and put an arm across the front of her shoulders, pulling her back against him for a gentle hug and dropping a quick kiss onto the top of her head.

He then finished feeding Erin, while Mac assisted Gloria with the food. When all was ready, Gloria took Erin upstairs to get her bathed and ready for bed. Harm and Mac dished out their food and settled down to eat it at the dining room table. The meal was delicious, but Harm couldn't quite enjoy it when he saw how quiet Mac was, especially in the face of how badly her day seemed to have gone.

"This is great, Mac," he complimented her on the fish, but she barely even looked up.

"I didn't know you liked fish," he continued, joking, "I thought you'd have prepared yourself a huge hunk of dead cattle or something!"

Mac dropped her fork and lowered her head, beginning to cry into her napkin.

Harm felt heart-sick at inadvertently upsetting her, even though he knew her bad day had been the main culprit. He'd only wanted to cheer her up, but now he'd made her cry!

"Aw, Mac, I'm sorry…" he got up and crouched down by her side, scooping her into his arms and then sitting down in her chair, with her on his knee.

He just let her cry for a while, knowing that she probably needed to get rid of all of this bottled emotion.

"Today was just awful," Mac finally spoke up, hiccupping a little, "Erin was crying and the teacher was telling me that I shouldn't be showing her how upset it was making me and that she'd be fine a little while after I was gone, but I heard her crying all the way out to the car and I wanted to go back in and get her, but I didn't want to look stupid in front of all of those other parents and I couldn't…I couldn't help feeling…feeling like I was somehow doing the same thing my Mother did to me…"

Harm just held her close and rocked her like he had done with Erin, as she got out all of the things that had been troubling her, probably building up for some time now.

"You were not doing the same thing your mother did to you. You have been fantastic with Erin, you are preparing her for growing up," he finally spoke up, once she had finished what she wanted to say, "You and I came into this all as close to beginners as you can probably get and you have been amazing with her! Yeah, sometimes it takes us a while to figure out what we should be doing, like when we're still all awake with her at two in the morning and she's screaming her head off! But we always get there in the end and the rest of the time, she's a happy, healthy, gorgeous little girl and by the time she goes to school, she'll be so smart. You talk to any other parent and I'll bet they tell you that they have an off day, too."

Mac gave him a look and he laughed, amending, "Okay, off-week…But most of the time, you're here, doing this all on your own and you have no idea how proud I am of you!"

Mac settled her head back in against his chest and listened to his heart beating hard in his chest.

"When I think about it sometimes, my heart feels like it'll beat right out my chest," he told her, "My girls make me so proud…"

A few seconds later, Gloria spoke up from the upstairs landing.

"Mr. Colmer? The ninã is asleep for the night. I'm just going to go to sleep too."

"Thank you, Gloria," Harm thanked her, "We'll see you tomorrow."

Harm heard her bedroom door shut and decided that an early night would probably do them all good. Mac was fast asleep in his arms, so Harm carried her upstairs to their room, rather than wake her. She stirred as he lay her down on their bed, though.

"Mmm…Harm, what are we doing upstairs?"

"Shh," Harm soothed her, "I thought it would do us good to get an early night. You're not still hungry, are you?"

Mac shook her head and lay down to go back to sleep.

Harm went downstairs and got all of the dishes cleared and put in the dishwasher, then went back upstairs. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and climbed into bed beside where he had settled Mac, giving her a gentle kiss to her forehead. She snuggled closer and he leaned over to turn out the lights, before he pulled her into his arms.

OOOO

It was just approaching dawn when Harm woke up again. He was still in the habit of waking early, even though he now didn't need to report for work as early as he did at JAG. Mac was still snuggled close to him and was obviously not still completely asleep, as she was stroking a hand back and forth across his chest.

"Morning," he greeted her, taking her distracting hand and squeezing it affectionately in his.

Mac opened her eyes and cuddled in closer, murmuring, "Mmm, g'morning."

Harm chuckled as he watched her, stroking his hand through her hair. He loved the softness of those long, dark waves. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and solemn. Harm didn't look away; he wanted her to know just how he felt about her. Sure, he could rarely find the right words when she really needed to, but he was hoping that he could show her, rather than tell her and things would be right between them.

Still, despite his thoughts, Harm couldn't have been more surprised when Mac pushed herself up to him and pressed her lips to his. Even though he was surprised, Harm hardly paused before deepening the kiss, feeling his whole body relax as she pressed against him. When Mac slipped her tongue into his mouth, he pulled away.

"Wait, Mac," he hesitated, "I just have to make sure that you're sure about this…"

"Shut up and kiss me," Mac pulled him back down.

"Maaacc!" Harm insisted.

"I'm very sure…" Mac told him, her eyes never leaving his, her face more serious than Harm had ever seen before, "I've never been more sure about anything in my life, Harm. I want this with you…"

"Okay," Harm regarded her softly, "That's all I need to know."

His eyes drifted shut as he leaned back down and captured her lips again.

OOOO

Later that morning, Janet Obermann was outside her house, waiting to put her kids on their appropriate school bus.

"Mom!" her youngest complained after looking in his lunchbox, "I don't like cheese spread on my sandwiches!"

"Well, why don't you check with your friends?" she suggested, "Maybe one of them will like cheese spread sandwiches and might like to swap."

"Mom," her eldest spoke up, "NOBODY likes cheese spread. It's so not cool."

Just then, the junior high school bus pulled up, so she ushered her middle child onto it.

"Bye Gracie, see you later."

"I still don't see why you won't let me learn to drive," Becca spoke up again, "Then I could get my own car and drive to school like my friends."

"Sure," Janet conceded, "But you'll have to be the one to get an after-school job to pay for the driving lessons and the car and the gas…"

"Mooooommm!" Was all the reply she got, as the high-school bus pulled up.

"Byyyyeee!" Janet made sure to wave exuberantly, so that all of the kids caught a good view of her.

"Looks like it's just you and me, champ," she patted her youngest on the shoulder.

"Uhhhh…gotta go, Mom," Eric told her, as the elementary school bus pulled up, "See you later."

"Later," Janet murmured, as the bus pulled away.

She remembered when they were little and she didn't need to worry about what was 'cool' and what was 'so-not-cool' and what she could do in front of their friends and what she couldn't…Life was so much easier when they were little…They used to think of her and their father as living super-heroes.

At that, Janet looked up to the house that was just beside the designated bus stop. The door had just opened and Janet saw the street's newest residents step out. Philip Colmer was dressed ready for work and his wife Christine was still in her house-robe, with their two-year-old on her hip.

"Say bye-bye to Daddy, Sweetie," Christine lifted the child up to kiss her Daddy, then leaned up herself, planting one heck of a kiss on him!

"Bye, Angel," Philip bid his daughter, then gazed at his wife with unabashed desire, "See you later, Baby."

Janet averted her gaze, but couldn't help but grin. She took the walk back to her house slowly, so as to catch some more of the heart-warming scene.

When she next glanced back, Philip was walking to his car and Christine was encouraging their little girl to wave. Although Tina didn't seem to be too happy that morning, Christine seemed to be glowing. Well, Janet was very happy for them both, but maybe just a little jealous!

OOOO

"Honey? What's wrong?" Mac looked up as Erin sat on the quilt in her office, "Are you tired?"

Erin looked up at her with a look that showed she was feeling very sorry for herself. And then, she promptly burst into tears.

"Oh, Honey!" Mac exclaimed and got up from her chair, going round her desk to bend down and scoop up her child, "Shh! Mommy's got you."

It was later as she watched Erin sleep that she realized, barring any unknown relative making an appearance, this little girl had nobody to depend on, once this was all over. She and Harm were the closest thing to parents she had…Was there any way that this could still work out okay?

OOOO

When Harm got home from work, he was surprised when he didn't see his wife and daughter downstairs in the living room.

"Honey?" he called, looking into the kitchen and Mac's office, but they weren't there, either.

He wandered up the stairs, peering into Erin's room, where her toys lay on the floor abandoned.

He continued along the hall, past Gloria's and the guest bedroom, to the master bedroom.

What he saw inside made him smile.

"No, Sweetie," Mac was telling their daughter, trying to get the child to relinquish the lipstick, "Let Mommy do it, let Mommm…"

Erin got her with a good smear that went nowhere even near her lips. Erin looked at her for a second then giggled.

Mac looked into the mirror and began to laugh, herself.

"That's not funny, you little rascal!" she managed to get out, in between bouts of laughter, then shrieked, as Erin nearly fell off her lap because she was laughing so hard.

This only made them both laugh harder, and Mac's mascara was running right down her face before she finally noticed Harm watching them.

"Oh, great," she sighed, not believing her luck, "you had to get home while Erin and I are doing each other's make-up…"

"You guys look pretty," Harm grinned, adding, girlishly, "I love your lipstick, Mac!"

Mac just gave a snort of laughter, grabbing for the make-up remover and the cotton wipes. She set to work on her daughter's face, before taking care of the mess of cosmetics on her own.

Harm came and scooped Erin up from her lap and the two of them watched the most important woman in their life, caught up in the radiant beauty they saw shining through.

After Mac was done, they went downstairs and put the stereo on. Erin enjoyed the attention they lavished on her as they danced her around the room. And when they picked her up and held her in between them for a slow-paced dance, she fell asleep feeling safer than she ever had.

From that day on, Harm and Mac didn't think of Erin as anything other than their daughter. To them, there were no cover identities, no life back in DC, no other life other than the one they had. All they cared about was the family they had created together. This was no longer 'pretend.'

OOOO

Their little world came to a shuddering halt nearly a month later, when Webb called them to report that Captain Simmons had been stopped for a minor traffic violation in Florida.

"What?" Mac asked, not believing what she was hearing.

Webb repeated himself…He seemed delighted. But Mac wasn't and she sat in her chair in her office, contemplating the news, until Harm came in three hours later.

"Honey, I'm home!" he joked, as he came in the door, much like he had the first few days that they had been living here.

When he received no reply, the first place he checked was in Mac's office.

"Hey," he greeted, softly, "Where's our little bundle of energy?"

"At the park with Gloria," Mac replied, still deep in thought.

"At this time?" Harm looked at his watch, "It's going to go dark soon."

"They've been gone a while," Mac told him, "But they won't be much longer. I asked that Gloria take care of her for a while, I needed to think."

"About what?" Harm asked, quietly, having now noticed her subdued mood.

"About Clay calling."

Here, Harm did start to panic. 'Clay.' She hadn't called him 'Clay' in ages. She was too mad to call him anything but 'Webb.' Webb, the spook they both loved to hate, but who had still come through for them, on this occasion. He wasn't going to destroy all of that, now, was he? No, not 'Clay,' the guy she used to date, used to kiss, used to…Harm shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think about that. They both had people in their past, people they'd slept with, but whom they'd moved on from…but now they had found happiness together, right? She wasn't going to leave him for Webb, was she?

When Harm didn't answer her, Mac looked at him and found a very perplexing look on his face. He was frozen, but there were obviously lots of thoughts bouncing about in that flyboy head of his.

"Aren't you going to ask me what he said?" she asked.

"No," the look on Harm's face looked somewhat like that of a child.

"Why not?" Mac asked, now near to giving up trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"Because I'm afraid to…"

"It's over," Mac told him, anyway.

"What!" Harm asked, shaking his head.

"IT'S OVER," she said again, louder this time, but not shouting.

"No…Mac, c'mon…"

"It's over," Mac said again, "Captain Simmons got caught with a broken tail-light, making an illegal u-turn in Florida, now he's being transported back to DC."

Harm's breath left him in a whoosh as he realized what she had meant. He rushed around the desk and lifted her right out of her chair, hugging the breath out of her, too.

"Whh…What? Harm, what are you doing?" Mac was confused.

"I thought you were leaving me," Harm finally got out, in between bouts of shaking.

"You thought what? Aww, Honey…" Mac hugged him back, asking, "Why did you think that? Because of Webb? I'd never leave you for that bastard, you know that!"

"God, that's my worst nightmare…" Harm cringed, "I just thought that everything had been going so well…"

"It is," Mac nodded, taking his face gently in her hands, "It's going great and I have never been happier…but Webb said the General wants us on a plane by the end of the week. He says we need to bring Gloria and Erin with us, so that they can both be returned to their families."

"But Erin doesn't have a family," Harm spoke up, "Not one who can take her, anyway…"

"I guess that we don't really know that, for sure," Mac said with a heavy heart, "Maybe her mother or some family members are willing to take her."

Now that was a very depressing thought, Harm thought to himself. She was theirs, now. She had become theirs. She was their little girl….

OOOO

The next Thursday found them at LAX, waiting for their plane home. Gloria had left a couple of days earlier, to fly south to visit family. When they discovered that their plane would be a couple of hours late taking off, Mac had unpacked Erin's quilt and seated her on it with her bottle. Harm had gone and got them all something to eat, because it was now going to be a long time before they got a meal on the plane. They sat beside Erin on the large quilt, Harm with his chicken salad wrap, Mac with her double cheeseburger and Erin with her chicken nuggets. It had been a long and difficult task, but Mac had finally talked Harm into letting Erin eat very occasional fast food. Mac had assured him that the franchise in question had very high standards for their children's meals.

Erin quickly finished hers off then took a look at what her Mommy had.

"Hey Baby," Mac smiled as Erin climbed onto her knee, her eyes fixated on the cheeseburger, "Would you like a little taste of Mommy's?"

Erin nodded, an eager smile on her face. Mac grinned and obliged the little girl, who took a big bite and chewed, thoughtfully.

"Is that nice?" Mac asked, her eyes now on Harm, who was rolling his.

When Erin nodded, Mac gave a triumphant laugh.

"And do you want to try Daddy's?" she asked the child again.

The girl took a look at what Harm had and promptly shook her head.

Mac sat there laughing, while Harm grabbed the little girl and tickled her.

"Laugh all you want, jarhead," Harm smiled at Mac, "But I know where this child's loyalties lie; Erin, Angel, what are you going to be when you grown up?"

"Squid!" Erin announced, with glee.

"You are not!" Mac laughed then asked Erin, "Sweetie, who rules the military?"

"M'rine do!" she child giggled.

"And what do we sing?"

Erin, with Mac's prompting gave a perfect rendition of the Marine Corps Hymn and by the time that they were finished, Harm's mouth was hanging open.

"When did you teach her that?" Harm demanded, grinning.

"When you weren't home," Mac smiled back at him, then asked Erin, "And what did Mommy say about singing that when Daddy was around?"

The little girl mischievously put a finger to her lips and made a 'shhh' sound.

Harm just laughed and dragged the child onto his knee.

"What am I going to do with my two girls?"

Mac sat and looked at him, asking a silent question with her eyes.

He understood without having to ask her anything.

"Did Cresswell tell you anything about the search that he was doing, before we left?"

Mac nodded.

"Did he find anyone?"

Mac shook her head. Cresswell had been looking for next-of-kin to take custody of Erin.

"Did you say anything about what Erin's been calling the two of us? How close we've all gotten? About how the two of us have finally worked things out?"

"I didn't want to say anything until I'd discussed it with you…" Mac shook her head again.

Harm comprehended her unspoken questions;

'Do you want me?'

'Do you want Erin?'

'Do you want to keep on being a family, all three of us?'

Things would be very different in DC. But Harm was undeterred from seeking to preserve what he had gained, during their time here in California.

"Well, y'know, with my looks…" he began.

Mac only took a second to catch on and she continued, smiling.

"and my brains…"

Harm grinned, reaching out to take her hand in his as they completed the thought, together.

"She's perfect. We're perfect."

FIN


End file.
